The Renaissance Tarot

Legends of the Past now reveal the Future!

Overview

Continuing my expedition into the unknown, my next deck was once again derived from mythologies of the past, this time depicted in an art form reminiscent of wrought metals. Like the Mythic Tarot previously discussed, the Renaissance Tarot draws on Greek mythology and standard Tarot symbology, to produce a deck in the RWS tradition, but with the Strength and Justice cards switched as in the Golden Dawn tradition.

The characters that populate the cards appear to be made of wrought gold or silver. Depictions of Greek gods and goddesses intermingle with the symbolic beasts of the Tarot in a minimalist view - no detailed landscape to explore, just the characters portrayed in their activities.

I liked the unique style of this deck, and its uncluttered representation of each card makes it an easy deck to learn with. The symbology is clearly represented in the Majors and Court cards alongside the mythological root of the card, especially in the Major Arcana. Because of the simplicity of the art form used, the pip cards are not illustrated with significant scenery, but they at least have some depiction related to the theme of the suit, and are not just basic pip counts. This makes them a little more useful than undecorated pips for large spreads.

Details of the Deck:

Tradition: RWS - Golden Dawn

Major Arcana: 22 cards

Minor Arcana: 56 cards

Court Cards: Page, Knight, Queen, King

Fire Suit: Wands

Air Suit: Swords

Water Suit: Cups

Earth Suit: Pentacles

Designer(s): Janet Lyle

Artist(s): Helen Jones

Publisher: Fireside, 1998

Home

Major Arcana:

0 - The Fool

1 - The Magician

2 - The High Priestess

3 - The Empress

4 - The Emperor

5 - The Hierophant

6 - The Lovers

7 - The Chariot

8 - Justice

9 - The Hermit

10 - Wheel of Fortune

The deck was the first I had come across that didn’t provide a tuck box or clamshell for the cards, providing instead a blue velvet drawbag. Later decks I acquired also came with either velvet, linen or muslin bags, which I always think do not provide the protection the cards deserve. Usually, I replace those with some form of box or case, which also allows me to store the decks with less chance of damage in my Tarot cabinets.

The deck did come with an excellent book - too big to be referred to as a LWB! Inside, Janet Lyle provides an excellent description of each card, especially the Majors and Court cards, showing the symbolic details of the card. She then goes on to provide a detailed write up on the symbolic provenance of the card, and also provides a small write up on the esoteric roots and references she used to derive the design for the card, subsequently executed by artist Helen Jones.

All in all, I’d say this is an easy deck to work with, easily conforming to the RWS tradition, although the almost undecorated Pip cards do provide a challenge for the novice cartomancer. The details in the book will help speed up the learning curve.